On the Cultural Connotation of English IdiomsWord文档格式.docx

On the Cultural Connotation of English IdiomsWord文档格式.docx

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2.3.1Colloquialisms3

2.3.2Proverbs4

2.3.3Slang4

2.3.4Allusions4

2.3.5PhrasalVerbs4

3.TheImportanceofResearchingIdioms4

3.1ToMasterLanguageWell4

3.2ToLearntheCultureofEnglish-speakingCountries5

3.3ToPromoteCross-culturalCommunicationintheWorld5

4.SourcesandCultureofEnglishIdioms5

4.1IdiomsOriginatingfromHistoricEventsandTheirReflectedCulture.6

4.2IdiomsOriginatingfromGeographyandTheirReflectedCulture7

4.3IdiomsOriginatingfromEconomyandTheirReflectedCulture8

4.4IdiomsOriginatingfromReligionandTheirReflectedCulture8

4.5IdiomsOriginatingfromLiteraryWorksandTheirReflectedCulture9

4.6IdiomsRelatedtoSportandTheirReflectedCulture10

4.7IdiomsRelatedtoAnimalsFeaturesandTheirReflectedCulture10

4.8IdiomsOriginatingfromFoodandTheirReflectedCulture11

5.TheDevelopmentofIdioms11

6.Conclusion12

Bibliography13

1.Introduction

IdiomsareacolorfulandfascinatingaspectofEnglish.Theyarecommonlyusedinalltypesoflanguages,formalandinformal,writtenandspoken.Theyarevividinusage,briefinstructureandprofoundinmeaning.Itmakeslanguagemorecolorful,morealive.Ifusedcorrectly,thesekindsofexpressionscanbeveryimpressive.Itisagroupofwordswithmeaningdifferentfromtheliteralone;

therefore,itisdifficulttounderstandidiomsjustfromtheirliteralmeaningofindividualelements.Idiomshaveshortandbriefwordsandconnotativemeaning.Theyreflectthespecificculturalcharacteristicandculturalimplication,whichshowdevelopmentandevolutionofEnglishnation,theymirrorthesociallifestyleandpeople'

svalueofEnglishspeakingcountry.Agoodmasteryofidiomsbecomesasignificantsymbolofaperson'

scommandofthelanguage.However,becauseofalowleveloflinguisticcompetenceinthetargetlanguage,peoplewholearnEnglishasasecondlanguageareatadistinctdisadvantageinunderstandingEnglishidioms.WemustknowtheoriginsofEnglishsothatwecanlearnEnglishwell.Englishidiomshavemanyoriginsamongwhichancientlegends,historicaleventsandreligionsaregivenmuchspaceindiscussion.Astotheformsofidioms,proverbsandslang,whichareoftenneglectedinotherbooks,arealsotakenintoconsideration.Theoriginofidiomsisconfinedinasmallnumberofpeople.Ifotherpeopleknowlittleaboutit,theymayhavedifficultiesinunderstandingit.

Asweallknow,Languageiscloselyrelatedtocultureandcanbesaidasapartofculture.Fromadynamicview,languageandcultureinteractwitheachotherandshapeeachother.Languageisthecarrierofculturewhichinturnisthecontentoflanguage.Wecandigoutculturalfeaturesfromlanguageandexplainlanguagephenomenawithculture.Consequently,wecanknowmuchaboutculturethroughstudyingidiomsandinturngetbetterunderstandingofidiomsbylearningtheculturalbackgroundbehindthem.Inthispaper,I'

mgoingtobrieflyshowthesourceandcultureimplicationofEnglishidioms.ItenablesustohaveanexactunderstandingofEnglishidiomsandtousethemcorrectly.

2.TheUnderstandingofEnglishIdioms

AnEnglishidiomisagroupofwordswithaspecialmeaningdifferentfromthemeaningofitsconstituentelement.Strictlyspeaking,idiomsareexpressionswhicharenotreadilyunderstandablefromtheirliteralmeaningofindividualelements.Inabroadsense,idiommayincludesetphrases,two-partallegoricalsayings,allusions,proverbs,maxims,epigrams,slangexpressionscolloquialisms,quotationsandjargons.TheyformanimportantpartofEnglishvocabulary.

Thedefinitionisvariousindifferentdictionaries.Theyareasfollows:

a.phraseorsentencewhosemeaningisnotclearfromthemeaningofitsindividualwordsandwhichmustbelearntasawholeunit（OxfordAdvancedLearner'

sEnglish-ChineseDictionary）

b.afixedgroupofwordswithaspecialdifferentmeaningfromtheseparatewords.（LongmamDictionaryofEnglishIdioms）

c.aspeechformoranexpressionofagivenlanguagethatispeculiartoitselfgrammaticallyorcannotbeunderstoodfromtheindividualmeaningsofitselements（AmericanHeritageDictionary）

d.agroupofwordsinafixedorderthathaveaparticularmeaningthatisdifferentfromthemeaningsofeachwordunderstoodonitsown（CambridgeAdvancedLearner'

sDictionary）

2.2TheFeaturesofIdioms

Thedefinitionofidiomrevealsitsfeature:

themeaningofidiomcannotbeseenliterarily.Themeaningofitisnotacomplexofeachword.Ifreaderslearnidiomfromeverywordofit,theycangetthemeaningofeachword,buttheycannotcomprehendthewholeidiom.Idiomsaredifferentfromthefreephrases,inwhichthemeaningcanbeguessedfromtheircomponents.Itbringspeoplesomedifficultiestolearnit.Asthefineflowerofthelanguage,idiomsplayaveryimportantpartinEnglish;

itisthewisdomandstrengthofthepeoplebecauseofitsconciseness,popularity,andexplosivevitality.

ConcisenessandExtendedMeaning

Asweallknowthatanidiomisanelementofalanguagethatpossessesauniquewayofexpressionbasedonitstime-honoreduse.Generallyspeaking,itcanexpressameaningwithveryfewsimpleandunrelatedwords.Justlike"

hangin"

means"

nevergiveup"

;

theidiom"

greenhand"

meaning"

aninexperiencedperson"

hasnothingtodowitheitherthegreencolororthehumanhand；

"

redmeat"

referstobeeforlambratherthananymeatthatisredincolor.

2.2.2Popularity

Sincethespecialtyofidioms,theybecomeverypopularinbothoralEnglishandwrittenEnglish.TheEnglish-speakingpeoplewillprefertousetheidiomstoexpressthemselves,ratherthantheLong-windedwords,foritcanshowtheliterarygraceofthespeakerandmakethespeechvivacious.Forexample,theywillprefertosay"

Iamasangryasabear"

insteadof"

Iamveryangry"

and“Ihaveantsinmypants"

Iamagitatedorexcitedaboutsomethingandcan'

tkeepstill."

2.2.3ExplosiveVitality

Sinceidiomshavetightrelationshipswithpeople'

sworkandlives,itcanbecreatedverylively.AsweallknowthatEnglandisanislandcountry,soitcherisheswaterverymuch.TheninEnglish,ithassuchanidiomas"

spendmoneylikewater"

.WhileChinesepeoplemainlyliveintheinland,sothereistheChineseequivalence"

spendmoneylikesoil"

.Onemoreexampleisthat,whenwementiontheidiom"

skeletoninthecupboard"

weareperhapsimpressedbythefrighteningscenewithoutcatchingwhatitreallymeans,yetifparaphrasedintofamilyscandal,everyonecanunderstandit.

2.3ClassificationofIdioms

Idiomscanbeclassifiedfromdifferentcriterion.ThereareavarietyofcriteriaforclassifyingEnglishidioms.However,thecriterionIwanttopointoutinthisarticleismainlyintermsoftheculturalstyle.Bythiscriterion,Englishidiomsmaybeclassifiedintofivegroups:

colloquialisms,proverbs,slang,allusionsandphrasalverbs.

2.3.1Colloquialisms

Colloquialismsareoralwordsorexpressionsusedindailyconversation.Forexample,"

Thewashingmachineisontheblink."

ontheblink"

isakindofcolloquialism,means"

notworkingproperly;

outoforder”;

“bigwheel"

means"

aninfluentialorimportantperson"

.

2.3.2Proverbs

Proverbsareshort,impliedsayingsinfrequentandwidespreadusethatexpressabasictruthorpracticalprecept.Forinstance,"

Afallintoapit,againinyourwit."

DoastheydoatRome."

"

Bitterpillsmayhavewholesomeeffects."

2.3.3Slang

Slangisakindoflanguageoccurringchieflyincasualandplayfulspeech,madeuptypicallyofshort-livedcoinagesandfiguresofspeechthataredeliberatelyusedinplaceofstandardtermsforaddedraciness,humor,irreverence,orothereffect.Slangenjoyspopularuse,becauseitiscolorful,blunt,expressiveandimpressive."

Doughandbread"

forinstance,means"

money"

.

2.3.4Allusions

Allusionsareoftenusedwherethemoregeneraltermsreferencewouldbepreferable.Allusionsapplytoindirectreferencesinwhichthesourceisnotspecificallyidentified.Forexample,"

theTrojanhorse"

comesfromthehistoricalstoryofTrojanWar;

aSphinxriddle"

amongwhich,"

Sphinx"

isfromGreekMythology,means"

Awingedcreaturehavingtheheadofawomanandthebodyofalion,notedforkillingthosewhocouldnotansweritsriddle."

2.3.5PhrasalVerbs

Phrasalverbsareidiomswhicharecomposedofaverbplusaprepositionand/oraparticle.Forexample,"

getawaywith"

dosomethingwrongwithoutbeingpunished"

putdownto"

statethatsomethingiscausedorexplainedby"

lookinto"

investigate"

3.TheImportanceofResearchingIdioms

3.1ToMasterLanguageWell

Idiomisanessentialpartoflanguage,languageitems,itappearsinacolloquialstyle,orinaformalstyle,oreveninslang.Itcanbeveryshortorratherlong.Manyidiomsaretreatedonthebasisofalliteration,rhyme,euphonyandrepetition.Idiomsarehardtolearnbecausetheirmeaningsareunpredictableandtheirpatternsmaybeunusual.Theirproperuseisoftenamarkofone'

scommandofEnglish.It'

sworthwhileforpeopletomakeeffortstolearnthemwell.Arightuseoftheminspeechandwritingwilladdmuchtovariety,strengthandvividnessoflanguage.

3.2ToLearntheCultureofEnglish-speakingCountries

Inabroadsens